Behind the scenes at Performance Bicycle

September 13, 2010September 19, 2010

On the road to Pisgah with GT Sensor 9rs

David and Chris are packing up today to head out to the Land of the White Squirrel (that’s Brevard, NC) for the Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race (which starts Tuesday, Sept. 14). But before they left they wanted to share a few thoughts on their ride for the week of racing, the exclusive GT Sensor 9r mountain bike. Just in case you’ve forgotten, David works in our Marketing department (although you may remember him from his on-the-scene posts from this year’s Tour de France), while Chris works in our Bikes department, making sure that all of our stores have the right mountain bikes in stock. Here’s David talking about his experiences on the GT Sensor 9r:

We’ve only been riding the GT Sensor 9rs for a few weeks, but it really has been a eye-opening experience for me. Stepping up from a 26″ full-suspension bike to this 29″ design has been fantastic, especially since the GT Sensor 9r has 120mm of rock-solid Fox suspension front and rear. Just taking the bike out of the box, I really liked the whole look, from the dark green paint job to the aggressive-looking top tube shape.

Of course we couldn’t resist throwing on a few upgrades while we had the chance. Both Chris and I installed a Crank Brothers Joplin 4 seatpost, with remote, as it’s the perfect weapon to battle the variety of gnarly terrain ahead in Pisgah. Chris then swapped out his components for a full Shimano XTR build, while I opted for an FSA crankset and cockpit with Avid Elixir CR disc brakes, plus a SRAM X.O rear derailleur/X.9 shifters combination (and of course Ergon GP1 grips).

So how does it ride? Well, I’m a big fan! I love how the 29″ wheels roll over technical sections of the trail, and GT’s Independent Drivetrain suspension design does a great job of isolating pedaling-induced suspension feedback. Plus, I really like having 120mm of suspension to bail me out when the trail gets nasty. In short, it should be a great ride for the long days in the saddle on the super-technical trails of the Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race.

The only thing I don’t know if it will help me with is in trying to catch a glimpse of one of the elusive white squirrels of Brevard! I swear I saw one last year, but Chris still doesn’t believe me!